Art theft: some of the famous art heists of the last 100 years

29 April 2003: A note found by Police officers when they recovered three
paintings stolen from Manchester's Whitworth Art Gallery.

Police suspected professional art thieves after a 2003 heist in which robbers
evaded alarms, security guards and cameras to swipe a Gauguin, a Van Gogh,
and a Picasso. To their surprise, the paintings were discovered stuffed
behind a public lavatory less than a quarter mile from the museum, with a
handwritten note attached, which read: "The intention was not to steal,
only to highlight the woeful security." While the authorities were
sceptical about the note, believing that the thieves realised they would
never sell the pieces, the Whitworth Gallery ramped up their security as a
result.